This picture was taken as Anna and I stood on the luggage conveyor belt. Good thing it didn't turn on :)
A taxi van picked up wayy too early this morning (5:30). We were flying out of Auckland by 7:20 and into Queenstown by 9. The airport security for domestic flights SHOCKED me. We literally just walked through in our jackets, belts, shoes, everything. We were never asked for any form of identification, and we could take any liquids we wanted. What a concept.
Queenstown is BE-A-UTIFUL. It had the best of both world...lake/beach and mountain. We could even see know on the mountains in the distance! Big event for day 1 was meeting Brian and Josh. They approached Jess and I as kiwis-accents and all-but ended up being Americans living out a of van as they explored NZ. Needless to say, it was an interesting encounter haha.
Dear, dear Brian and Josh and their graffitied previa van. You can't tell from the picture, but Brian has a moustache that he curls on each end...every few minutes. It was ridiculous.
Highlight of the day was the Shot Over Jet. It was one of those things that I probably would not have done on my own because I would not have known ho amazing it was. It was like motorized white water rafting high adventure style. Surprisingly nerve-racking because the driver goes right up to the rocks as if we're going to run into them, and then spins around out of the way. One of the best parts was the Chinese man sitting right behind us. Listening to him freak out made the ride a thousand times better. "Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. OH NO NO NO!....Please. Please save my life!!!" Hilarious.
We just loved wearing these stylish black robes ;)
We also had our first Lord of the Rings site encounter on our drive through Glenorchy. It was absolutely beautiful scenery!
I had heard that there were more sheep than people in NZ and I finally believe after this trip. We saw them everywhere. Jessica got $5 from JJ for chasing a sheep down to touch it. It was quite entertaining.
Day 2
Did you know that there are Salvation Army stores in NZ? We explored one in Queenstown today hoping to find some good deals, but we were disappointed when the prices were barely lower than anything brand new.
Sunshine Bay. Doesn't that just sound wonderful? We hiked along the lake and then up toward Sunshine Bay and it was wonderful. LOVED seeing both Anna and Jess do a head stand on the tree stump :)
On our way to Wanaka, James (an old friend of the BYU study abroad groups who travels with us and drives one of the busses) stopped us at a fruit stand where we got HUGE bags of cherries and peaches for only $5. And it was the most delicious fruit I may have ever tasted. In Wanaka, we explored "Puzzling World." This place was full of optical illusions, rooms of mirrors, a giant human maze, and so many puzzles and mind tricks that my head really did hurt as we left.
FERGBURGER. My friend Parker King told me that the one place I HAD to go in Queenstown was Fergburger. We had all heard good things, but I was not expecting it to be as amazing as it was. Best burger I've ever eaten. LOVED it. So much so, that we all ate dinner there twice (and some girls thrice!)
Day 3
BUNGY JUMPING. I already put up the video but here are some exciting pictures from my exciting jump :)
That's me!
SO excited we did it!
SO excited that all 16 of us did it!
These were the signs on the bathroom.
Haha. yes they did.
As if bungy jumping wasn't enough excitement for the day, JJ bought us tickets for the gondola and luge for today. We saw breathtaking scenery on the way up and down in the gondola. The luge ended up being similar to the Alpine Slides, except much more fun because you drove it down a wide track and actually got to steer (as opposed to only pushing the lever back and forth to stop and go). There were lots of turns, u-turns, tunnels, and big hills where you could some major air if you were going fast enough. We had a blast racing James down the course. SO fun.
Our view as we luged down the mountain.
Day 4
Milford Sound. We started very early this morning, and drove 4 hours down to Milford Sound, one of the most famous tourist sites in NZ. This fiordland (or fjordland as we would spell it) was breathtakingly beautiful. And we even got to see some seals and dolphins! We thought we would be disappointed because it was raining, but the rain only added to the magnificence of the waterfalls.
I really did take this pictures with my camera. It was beautiful.
Hands underground, my favorite part of the day was the ride back through the mountains--there were literally thousands of brand new waterfalls from all the rain. We tried capturing the moment, but the pictures just don't do it justice. It was one of the most amazing things I have seen in nature.
Day 5
Every day I have been in awe of the beauty I see in all of my activities. Today did not disappoint. Half of the girls rented bikes for the day and we took a scenic journey around the lake.
We discovered secluded beaches and waded through the crystal clear water. We swung on a rope swing over the lake and laid out on a dock. The weather was the best it's been all week and we enjoyed every last second of it :)
Jess, Emily, Nicole, and I decided this is going to be our signature pose from now on.
This is where we stopped for lunch. Amazing.
One of the girls, Nicole, turned 21 today. We all had dinner together to celebrate (with Fergburger of course) and then we sang to her in one of the grassy areas in town as she stood in the middle of us and danced around. We didn't intend to cause a commotion, but all of a sudden, an entire Asian tour group came up and started taking pictures of her. Even after we had stopped singing and she had stopped dancing. It was hilarious. We can always count on those Asian tourists to take a picture of EVERYthing. I mean, really, how funny is it going to be when they go and show their vaca pictures to their friends and they try to explain that one. haha. Also to celebrate, we went down to Altitude, the dance club in our hostile for a 15 minute dance party. We flashed our passports to get in, went up to the front, and started dancing. The funny thing was, NO one else was dancing. That didn't stop us though, and soon enough everyone was dancing. Our 15 minutes were a blast :) I LOVED Queenstown. If I ever come back to New Zealand, it will definitely be on the top of my list.
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